COST 217 intercomparison and analysis of fibre mode field diameter measurements

An interlaboratory comparison of mode field diameter measurements on six single mode fibres of both conventional and dispersion modified design has been performed within the framework of the COST 217 Project. Fourteen laboratories took part in the intercomparison using five different measurement techniques. The results showed clear systematic differences in the measured mode field diameter between the methods. These differences can be explained in terms of the theory of the methods. It is suggested that the most accurate values of mode field diameter are obtained using the far field scan technique and hence this is the most suitable technique to use as a reference test method